Earth 2150: Lost Souls review (PC)

Lost Souls uses the same 3D engine used in the other two Earth 2150 games. It is a great engine for a 3D RTS game because of its good camera control and its high level of interaction between the units and the environment. Anyone who has played a lot of 3D RTS games knows that sometimes the camera can be such a disaster to control that it's better to just leave it alone. Luckily, the camera in Lost Souls is very easy to control, and it lets you zoom, elevate, and rotate your view. These functions are actually very useful in determining which weapons your opponents have mounted onto their chassis.

The engine is also great for gameplay mechanics. You can speed up or slow down the game to help you coordinate your attacks, which is especially useful when you're being attacked on several fronts. There are even some mechanics designed to surprise and fool your enemy. There are night cycles to set up ambushes in the dark, and you can have your repairers paint your units so they're the same color as your opponent's units. While these ploys aren't that functional against computer players, you'll find that they can be effective in multiplayer games if executed correctly. The game treats the environment as a 3D landscape. Flying units will have to increase altitude to pass over mountains, and hills will block weapon fire. In fact, any object will block fire. That means your defenses will accidentally hit your own buildings with stray rockets if your base isn't designed with that possibility in mind. Another interesting feature is the fact that destroyed units and buildings remain on the battlefield as destroyed husks. While you can just run over destroyed units, the charred remains of the larger buildings will become an obstacle until the remains are destroyed. This can be a hindrance to both the attacker and defender, and usually you'll see the AI move in to clear away its own destroyed buildings.

The engine's graphics are beginning to show their age, but the game definitely isn't unpleasant to look at. Weapon effects like plasma bolts and shield deflections still look quite nice, and you'll be satisfied with the good-looking explosions when you destroy something. You'll probably enjoy fighting the United Civilized States just so you can see the huge, screen-jolting explosions when you destroy nuclear reactors. But the graphics themselves are fairly bland, especially since we're seeing them for the third time. The textures just aren't that impressive, and the units look like they're made out of Lego blocks. It would have been nice to have had updated graphics, but they are still acceptable when compared with those of current 3D RTS games.

Another aspect of the series that hasn't changed in Lost Souls is the sound. The sounds of weapons firing and explosions are decent, but the unit acknowledgements are still as hokey as ever. You'll wish they had at least done something about the wretched voices of the Lunar Corporation faction. Lost Souls also uses the same soundtrack found in the previous two games in the series. While the soundtrack provides a very good orchestral backdrop for the game, it's disappointing that no new tracks have been added.

Earth 2150: Lost Souls stands tall on its own merits. Its many options, long missions, and excellent gameplay make it one of the best RTS games on the market. If you've already played previous Earth 2150 games, you won't find anything new here, but if you don't mind going through the same thing again or you're just looking for a great RTS game, then look no further.